My Three Xykons
}} Redcloak explains the Xykon decoy ploy to the MitD. Cast * Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶ * Team Evil ** Xykon ◀ ▶ ** Redcloak ◀ ▶ ** The Monster in the Darkness ◀ ▶ ** A Demon-Roach ◀ ▶ ** Zombie Dragon ◀ ▶ ** Xykon Decoys *** Eye of Fear and Flame (as Xykon) ◀ ▶ *** Death Knight (as Xykon) ◀ ▶ *** Huecuva (as Xykon) ◀ ▶ Transcript Redcloak watches Xykon and Roy battle mid-air. Redcloak (inset): Typical. Ten minutes in, and he's already managed to put his foot into a big steaming pile of adventurers. Redcloak stands with the MitD and the Huecuva Xykon Decoy, holding his 1000 gp spyglass. Monster in the Darkness: So Xykon is actually a quadruplet? Redcloak: If I continue to ignore you, you're going to spout inane observations about this for the rest of the war, aren't you? Monster in the Darkness: Probably. Redcloak: Fine. Redcloak: After I talked about strategy with Xykon—or should I say, at Xykon—I got all of the monster books together and looked up some undead that were skeletal and free-willed. Redcloak: I made three that fit the bill well enough. Flashback to Redcloak animating the tree decoys. In his hand is a book labeled "MM2". At his feet are two more books labeled "FF" and "BoVD", respectively. Redcloak (inset): A death knight. Redcloak (inset): A huecuva. Redcloak (inset): And an Eye of Fear and Flame. Redcloak (inset): Though I think I got a little too much "fear" and not enough "flame" on that one. Demon-Roach: "For Mature Audiences." Oooooooo! Monster in the Darkness: How did you get them to look exactly like Xykon? Redcloak: I didn't. They're human skeletons, I put a blue robe on them and called it a night. Redcloak: Heck, I had to put those colored pendants on them just to tell them apart. Redcloak: The idea was, the real Xykon would sneak into the castle, kill everyone there and animate them as zombies. Redcloak: Summon a few monsters for flavor and boom, we've opened up a second front behind the defenders. Redcloak: It's all shot to hell now that they decloaked him, though. Redcloak: Oh well. You there, go ahead and take a few thousand troops to reinforce your cowardly friend out there. Huecuva: On it, chief! Huecuva: Protection from Good! Huecuva: Divine Power! The Huecuva walks off stage right. Monster in the Darkness: WOW! I didn't know Xykon knew how to cast cleric spells, too! Redcloak: What are you talking about? I just explained this, that wasn't really— beat Redcloak: Yeah, that Xykon sure is amazing, isn't he? Monster in the Darkness: Do his brothers know he can do that? D&D Context * In this strip Redcloak is shown reading books marked "BoVD", "FF" and "MM2". These books are the Book of Vile Darkness, the Fiend Folio and the Monster Manual II, all actual published D&D 3.5 books. Monster Manual II and Fiend Folio were also the titles of 1st and 2nd edition sourcebooks, published in 1983 and 1981, respectively. * A Huecuva is an undead, accursed priest. It first appeared in the 1981 AD&D (1st edition) Fiend Folio. The Fiend Folio was published in 2003 for D&D 3.0 and has a Huecuva template. * The Death Knight was likewise first published in the 1981 Fiend Folio. For D&D 3.0 it is present in Monster Manual II, published in 2002. * The Eye of Fear and Flame was first published in the 1981 Fiend Folio. For D&D 3.0 it is included in the Book of Vile Darkness, published in 2002. * Create Greater Undead is an 8th level cleric spell capable of animating powerful intelligent undead types. * Protection from Good is a 1st level cleric spell which provides +2 to AC and Saving Throws versus Good creatures. * Divine Power is a 4th level cleric spell which provides bonuses to attack, strength and hit points. Trivia * The title is a parody of the long-running 1960-70's sitcom My Three Sons. * Cloaking devices are a fictional technology invented by the Star Trek franchise, though they have inspired some real world breakthroughs for rendering objects invisible. This is what Redcloak refers to when he says 'decloaked'. External Links * 431}} View the comic * 38682}} View the discussion thread Category:Uses Create Greater Undead Category:Uses Protection From Good Category:Uses Divine Power Category:The Battle of Azure City